


When You Walk in a Dream, but You Know You're Not Dreaming

by peggywrites



Category: Lupin III
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Drinking, Drunken Confessions, Drunken Kissing, Kissing, M/M, Partners in Crime, Romantic Fluff, Tenderness, Yearning, a lot of soft but like a lil of spice ... for flavor, but also like, drunken talks, feeling realization, jigen YEARNS, theyre in italy so DEAN MARTIN TITLE ! woo!, theyre partners my guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:54:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23504929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peggywrites/pseuds/peggywrites
Summary: While staying in their mansion in Italy, Lupin and Jigen get extremely drunk. Things take a turn when Lupin decides he wants to cuddle.
Relationships: Jigen Daisuke/Arsène Lupin III
Comments: 11
Kudos: 136





	When You Walk in a Dream, but You Know You're Not Dreaming

It was funny just how little they used the mansion in Italy. Sure, they had to flee the country for a few years, but even though the air had cleared up, this was their first time back. After making a quick getaway from their hideout in London, Jigen and Lupin needed a place to stay and lay low. Turns out, a giant-ass mansion on top of a hill was just the place to do that.

Jigen hadn’t realized how big the thing was until he did some exploring around it. After all, Lupin had been the one to buy it. And then he said he’d give it to Jigen, no strings attached. Though, the gunman couldn’t say if he knew Lupin was teasing or not. He never could tell. 

Jigen can’t remember the last time they actually _owned_ a house. They were always moving around from place to place. While they had hideouts in nice apartments with cafés and such, they were always rented. Temporary. Little ticking time bombs ready to go off at any slip up. The mansion, while far too extravagant and over the top, was the first house in a long time that Jigen could really say they owned. 

He really ought to thank the real estate agent or whatever poor sap that had to deal with Lupin and let him buy the place. Thankfully the deal must’ve been confidential, because not even Zenigata knew they owned the mansion.

The fiat didn’t take long to unpack when they got there. And even though the place was huge, with a multitude of bedrooms and others such like, Lupin and Jigen still found themselves settled into one large bedroom. It was almost the size of a small house; two beds, a couch, a coffee table, a few cushioned chairs, and a television. All it needed was a kitchen, but Jigen was excited there was a very large kitchen downstairs. He couldn’t wait to make something great for breakfast.

As for tonight, the two of them ordered Chinese takeout and surprised the delivery boy with a hefty tip. Lupin, of course, had an immense amount of alcohol on hand, and the two of them had been drinking for a solid three hours straight.

“ _No, no, no. No._ ” Lupin slurred his words as he paced in front of the couch Jigen had draped himself over. The lights had been dimmed long ago, allowing the softer, almost dark light to be better on their drunken eyes. The thief was gesturing his hands to and fro, going off on some drunken rant that wasn’t really a rant at all. It was like when he planned a heist and pulled an all-nighter, but, more drunk. “No, see. I’m — I’m — I am ... an _elephant_.”

Jigen gave a hissing laugh through his teeth, careful not to lose the cigarette in his mouth. He was definitely less drunk than the gentleman thief, though he was buzzed enough to be having a fun time with it. “A what?”

“An elephant!” Lupin spun to face his partner, hands gesturing wildly in the air. “You know? You know?” He pointed at Jigen with both fingers. “You _know_. You **_KNOW!_** Jigen, you know.” 

“I know?” Jigen repeated, shifting himself so he was propped up on his elbow. If Lupin was going to put on a show, he might as well watch.

“Yes. You know. Because I am — I am! I am — _in a room_.” Lupin scrunched up his face, gesturing both hands to the floor.

“That you are.” Jigen agreed.

“And — and I am in a room! And I am —- I am the _**CENTER!**_ ” He lifted a finger up triumphantly before bringing it back down with emphasis. 

“I don’t - I don’t think that’s what ‘elephant in the room’ means.” Jigen hiccuped a bit, causing him to remove his cigarette and cough for a moment. 

“What? No, no, that’s it isn’t it?” Lupin argued, one hand going to rest on his hips. “It’s English, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but — but I think it’s supposed to be like, ‘there’s a really big thing that’s a problem, and everyone is gonna ignore it even though it’s huge’.” Jigen stated, all be a bit slowly and dragged out. 

“Who made you an English major?” Lupin said, a bit gruffly. 

“It’s like — it’s like if Pops and you were in a room, and he — and he just completely ignored you.”

“Pops wouldn’t ignore me.”

“Yeah, but that’s the best example I can I think of.” Jigen said with a shrug.

“I’m the _one thing_ on this planet Pops pays attention to.”

“I know but I was just saying-“

“ _No, no. Listen. Listen. Listen._ ” Lupin took a couple of steps forward, waving both hands out in front of him.

“‘istening.” 

Lupin paused, lifting up a finger for silence as he reached down for his wine glass. Or was it Jigen’s? They really stopped caring about who’s was who’s by now and were just drinking from and refilling whichever one they wanted to. The thief lifted the glass to his lips and slammed the whole thing down. 

“The thing I’m trying to say is — I am the elephant.”

“What kind?”

_“Mmh?”_

“What _kind_ of elephant are you?” Jigen asked, holding his cigarette between two fingers so he could lazily lift the other wine glass to his mouth.

“There’s only one kind.” 

“No, no. Two different kinds, I think.” Jigen took a sip of the wine before placing it back down. “African and uh, Asian. I think.”

“Is there a difference?” Lupin asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“Ears. I think it’s the ears. One has bigger ears than the other.” Jigen demonstrated, placing his palms spread out against the side of his head. 

_“Oooooh.”_

“You’re probably the one that has the bigger ears.” The gunman snickered, dropping his hands to have a draw of his smoke.

 _“Ah haaaa...”_ Lupin groaned for a drawn out period of time, looking like a deflating balloon as he did so. “But, my point is — my point —- my point is.” He paused, one finger in the air. He scrunched up his face again to give a very determined, thoughtful look. “I had a point.”

“You’re an elephant.” Said Jigen, helpfully.

 _ **“I AM AN ELEPHANT!”**_ Lupin snapped his fingers with triumph. “If I am in a room, people know I’m there.”

“Unless you do whatever weird thing it is you do. And then no one notices us.” Jigen pointed out, tapping the brim of his hat with his finger.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Jigen answered. “is that sometimes we can just ... get on a plane and no one will notice us. Or we can go to dinner, or just _be_ somewhere, in our normal get up, and not be seen.” Which is something he always wondered about, but always assumed it was some weird, Lupin iii magic.

“A wizard — no, a magician never reveals his tricks.” Lupin said with a sly smile, and well, there you go.

Jigen shrugged, turning to be on his back with his hands tucked behind his head. He doesn’t remember buying any of the furniture in the mansion. Maybe it was something Lupin did in his free time, but he had to admit, the couch was comfortable as hell. He had a right mind to finish his cigarette and just fall asleep right there. 

But there was a dip in the couch and very suddenly a great weight crashed onto his chest.

 _“Ooch!”_ Jigen’s eyes popped open, though thankfully hidden by his hat, as Lupin flopped over him. "The Hell!?" The thief climbed on top of him, fumbling up so that his chin rested on Jigen’s chest. Lupin also had maneuvered his way so that his legs fit around Jigen, straddling and keeping Jigen’s legs in place. Least to say, Jigen was pretty trapped, and definitely struck.

It’s not like he and Lupin never got this close before. They’d cuddled for multiple reasons, warmth, the need for comfort, calming down after a friendly wrestling match of some kind. Lupin being drunk sort of changed something. Jigen couldn’t tell what. But there was something different.

Though, he didn’t say anything.

Except.

“Jesus, you’re heavy.” He grunted, since the wind had been knocked out of him, and he tried shifting a bit underneath the other.

“ _Mmh_ , no I’m not. I’m a twig.” Lupin grumbled, sounding more sleepy than before. The thief groaned when Jigen squirmed a bit and he placed his hands on the the gunman’s chest. “Stop movin’.” And Jigen immediately stopped. Lupin mumbled a thank you and shifted his head to rest his cheek on his hands, which were still planted firmly on top of Jigen’s chest.

Jigen took his arms from behind his head, but found that he didn’t know where to put his hands. On the back of Lupin’s head? His arms? His back? God help him if he even considered his friend’s waist. Which he was considering, so please, God help him. He thought with a curse that he should’ve just left them behind his head. Instead, he reached up and took one final draw from his cigarette and exhaled very slowly. Lupin, at the same time, inhaled very deeply, humming after he did so. The gunman looked over to the ashtray on the coffee table and haphazardly tossed his cigarette over. It landed in the tray, of course, because he was Daisuke Jigen and could make a silly toss like that with his eyes closed. But then came back to the subject of his hands.

Why did Lupin have to make the simplest of things so difficult? 

“Relax, would ya?” Came Lupin’s smooshed voice from beneath him.

“Mmh? What?”

“You’re as stiff as a rock and your heart — your heart —“ Lupin patted Jigen’s chest with his hand. “Racing a hundred miles per second.”

“Yeah, well,” Jigen coughed. “Just had a smoke. Give me a second I’ll calm down.”

“I thought smoking made you _calm?_ ” Lupin asked, maybe a bit more suspiciously than Jigen would’ve liked.

“Maybe combining it with drinking wasn’t the best idea.” The gunman offered the explanation, and thankfully Lupin seemed to buy it.

There was a long period of time where Jigen rested with his arms laid out to the side, one hanging off the couch and the other draped over the back. He was relaxing a bit more, and he had to admit that this ... this was kind of nice. Maybe this was something he could get used to. Lupin’s weight was comforting against his chest. He looked down at the top of Lupin’s head, using every bit of self control not to lean down and press his nose into it. He wonders if it was soft, and lifted a hand as he thought about running his hand through the surface. But he forced it back down instead, leaning his head back to look at the ceiling instead of the other. No doubt his face was as red as it felt. 

Jigen was not one for romance. At least, that’s what he would like to tell himself. He was a traditional guy, but only in the ways of how he dressed and maybe his old-fashioned views of the world. Whenever he saw Lupin be lovey-dovey with women (and in some special cases, men), he felt sick to his stomach. Especially when it was with Fujiko. When he first started traveling with Lupin, he tried to convince himself that he just wasn’t a romantic guy. That the stuff just made him gag. That it wasn’t some repressed feelings bull shit bubbling to the surface. But he couldn’t deny the things he thought about at night. About being the one to be held by Lupin. Being the one to hold Lupin tight. Being the one to kiss Lupin. 

Maybe he ought to try getting to sleep now. It’s what Lupin seemed to be doing. 

_“Where’s Jigen?”_ Came a teasing, giggling voice. Jigen looked back down to see Lupin was looking at him with wide, doe-like eyes. The thief had his chin resting on his hands as he spoke. “Where’d he go?”

“I’m right here.” Jigen answered with a bit of an amused chuckle.

“ _Mmmhh, nope._ Not here. I’ll find him.” Lupin moved his hands from Jigen’s chest, planting them in either side of his partner, trapping him in place. The thief pushed himself up a bit, but only managed to slide himself up, pressing their hips and their chests together as he did so. Jigen tried to scoot back, propping himself up on his elbows, but Lupin had stopped him in his tracks. His face felt like it was absolutely on fire and it certainly didn’t help that that’s where Lupin’s hands went next. His partner reached up and in one swift movement, using the palm of his hand to go under Jigen’s hat and pushed it up. He had taken most of Jigen’s bangs with his hand, successfully pushing his hair and his hat up his head to reveal Jigen’s eyes beneath.

And those eyes were staring at Lupin with shock and bewilderment and all kinds of emotions in between.

“There he is!” Lupin giggled, squeezing his eyes shut with childlike glee. His shoulders rising and falling with his small laughter. The gentleman thief reacted as if this were something that was normal. As if it were something they did regularly. “I - I found ... I found him.”

Jigen was definitely sober now. He felt like he had gotten slapped in the face. Lupin’s laughter softly trailed off and away as the thief slowly opened his eyes back up. Lupin blinked at him, as if realizing something important. Jigen looked at him back, tilting his head to the side with nervous curiosity.

“ _Wow_.” Lupin breathed the words, and Jigen realized just how close they were as the thief’s breath lingered on his face. His hand still rested on Jigen’s forehead, but now the gesture felt soft and meaningful. “Your eyes are beautiful. You’re ... you’re _beautiful_.” There was something about the statement that made it feel special. It wasn’t a flirty word like how Lupin normally used it. Like when he would try to win over some girl. And it wasn’t used objectively like how he would describe a piece of jewelry or an expensive painting. It was different. It was genuine. And it was special. It felt like the word was made for Jigen.

Jigen didn’t have time to linger on what it meant specifically. Because Lupin pushed himself up again, closing the distance between him and Jigen, and was suddenly pressing their lips together.

Jigen’s eyes were wide and he couldn’t help the involuntary gasp that got stuck in his throat. Lupin’s hand was still on his head, brushing away his hair and his hat, but the other soon came to join. The thief cupped Jigen’s cheek with his other hand, pulling him closer as he squeezed his eyes shut once more. 

Now Jigen definitely didn’t know where to put his hands. This is what he wanted. He can’t deny that. He wanted to kiss Lupin, more specifically he wanted Lupin to kiss him and it was _happening_. But Lupin was drunk. He probably wasn’t thinking straight. Strike that; the **_DEFINITELY_** wasn’t thinking straight for this to be happening. Jigen tried to decide if this was okay. If Lupin was really kissing him because he wanted to or simply because the wine had gone to his head. 

Eventually, Jigen came to this conclusion:

_Fuck it._

He reached a hand to the back of Lupin’s head as the thief pulled back for only a second, letting out a small gasp as he did so, before pressing their lips together once more. He was right; Lupin’s hair was soft. Jigen wrapped his other hand around Lupin’s waist and pulled the other closer to him. The thief hummed, giggling against Jigen’s lips, and the sensation sent shivers up the gunman’s spine. 

And just like that, it was suddenly over. Lupin pulled away and sank back down to Jigen’s chest. He was still humming, but the sound was softly trailing away. Jigen would do anything for the feelings of Lupin’s hums to return to his lips. He gazed back down at the thief, and Lupin looked like he was getting ready to settle in for a long night’s rest.

“Don’t fall asleep.” Jigen whispered, reaching down to place both hands on either side of Lupin’s face. “Don’t you dare fall alseep.” Statements like these were usually reserved for emergencies, when there was too much blood on the floor and someone was too close to the light at the end of the tunnel, but Jigen said it just as desperately. If Lupin fell asleep now, he could lose this moment. 

The thief’s eyes went back open as Jigen leaned down. It was Jigen, this time, who pressed his lips against Lupin’s, eyebrow creasing as he tried to escape thoughts that screamed at him that this was a bad idea. He kept pressing forward; he pushed himself and Lupin into an upright position, so that the other was practically sitting in his lap, and suddenly Lupin’s hands were upon him. 

Jigen finally had time to process what it actually felt like to kiss Lupin the Third. It was soft and rough, tame and wild, and controlled and out of control all at the same time, much like Lupin himself. The thief tasted like cigarettes and honey, like something you’d read out of a cheesy romance novel but never thought it could actually be true.

The first thing the thief did was get Jigen’s hat off his head. It was almost an annoyed motion, as if the thing was in their way, and he practically threw the piece of clothing to the floor. The two of them parted for a moment, suddenly remembering the need to breath was something everyone had. Their foreheads pressed together gently. Jigen looked at Lupin with heavy, half lidded eyes. Quite roughly, they were kissing once more, teeth gnashing together as their lips crashed into one another. Then Lupin’s hands were running through Jigen’s wild mess of hair, tugging and pulling at the strands as he bundled up bits into his fists.

Jigen grunted, maybe almost growled at the feeling, his own hands returning to Lupin’s back as he (almost desperately) tried to pull the thief as close to him as humanly possible. He didn’t know when he would get another moment like this, so he was going to enjoy it as much as he possibly could. Lupin had moved his hands to his collar, tugging on his tie to pull Jigen closer to him, to which the gunman happily obliged. The thief’s nimble hands pulled the tie loose and tossed it roughly over his back. Lupin pulled away from the kiss, trailing Jigen along with him. The man loosed his own tie, almost as if it were choking or restraining him, and threw it on the floor next to Jigen’s hat. Before the gunman could say anything, Lupin’s hands were on his shoulders and he shoved Jigen flat on his back. 

“Ow.” Jigen winced as the top of his head knocked against the couch’s arm.

“Sorry.” Lupin said breathlessly, looming over Jigen with his hands pressed to both sides of the gunman’s body, still straddling with his legs.

“I’m okay. Don’t worry abo-“ Jigen didn’t get to finish as suddenly Lupin was on him again, this time peppering his face with kisses. He wondered briefly if Lupin was secretly an honest drunk, and if this was some kind of repressed feeling he had locked away spilling out over the edge. His mind didn’t have time to wonder as Lupin dragged him back to the present.

The thief’s lips pressed to his cheek, his forehead, the bridge of his nose, his chin. Basically, anywhere on his face he could get to. Jigen lifted his hands up once more, pressing them to the back of Lupin’s waist and neck. He pressed his hand firmly between Lupin’s shoulder blades, trailing up his hand to the back of his neck. He tried to keep up with the other’s frantic movements, but found that he had been firmly placed on the receiving end. Which, if he was honest, he had absolutely _no_ problem with, so he laid back and let it happen. Occasionally catching Lupin’s lips with his and forcing him to linger there for a while. Lupin knew what he was doing, that much was obvious. The guy knew how to make people tick and what made them happy. Not only did he shower Jigen’s face with kisses, but he placed small nips and nibbles against the bottom and edges of his lips. This made the man beneath him squirm, and Lupin gave a sly little giggle as Jigen clutched the back of his shirt.

Lupin placed a hand on Jigen’s cheek, tilting his chin delicately so that he could kiss his way down his neck. The gentleman thief pressed his lips next to Jigen’s windpipe, and the gunman could feel his heartbeat against Lupin’s mouth. The sensation made him give a breathless sigh. 

Though previously lost for coherent thoughts, Jigen was coming back to his senses. At least, enough to realize that Lupin was trailing further down, peppering kisses along his Adam’s apple, then his collar bone. Jigen didn’t know what was going through the other’s head, but he had to be sure of something. Jigen placed his hands on Lupin’s shoulders and gently pushed forward.

“Lupin?” He said, more breathlessly and dreamily than he would’ve liked to sound. 

“Mhm?” Lupin only pressed forward, grazing Jigen’s skin with his teeth as he leaned down to kiss him. Jigen cleared his throat.

“Lupin. _Wait_.” He said this a bit more firmly, pushing Lupin up so that he was further above him. 

“What? What’s up?” Lupin blinked, staring down at Jigen with curious, yet slightly concerned eyes. “Uncomfortable?” He asked, and Jigen wondered if he was this considerate with everyone he slept with. 

“No.” No, God, no. Jigen was the most comfortable he had ever been in his entire freaking life. But that wasn’t the point right now. “You’re _drunk_ , Lupin.” He stated.

“Yeah, yeah. But I’m fine.” Lupin insisted, then a cheeky grin spread over his face. “I can be — I can be just as good drunk as I am sober.”

“That’s not the problem.”

“... problem?” 

“ _Damn it._ No. There’s _no_ problem. You’re _never_ a problem. For God’s sake it finally feels like this is _right_.” Jigen removed his hands from Lupin’s shoulders, going instead to cover his face, almost as if he were embarrassed. “But you’re _drunk_. And what if it isn’t real?” He knows he should be taking this chance while he could, but there was a part of him that wouldn’t allow it.

“Ah, not real?” Lupin reached up to scratch his chin with his finger.

“You’re not acting like yourself.” Jigen explained.

“You don’t think I would ...?” Lupin trailed off. 

“ _Mmmhh_.” Jigen groaned, wishing he had his hat back on. He pressed his hands over his eyes instead. If Lupin was sober, he would be able to find the right words. “Just ... it doesn’t feel like this is something you would do. If tomorrow comes, and — you still, _you know_. Then maybe.”

“I know.” Lupin confirmed. He reached down, grabbing one of Jigen’s hands from him and pulling it away from his eyes. “Jigen?”

_“Mmh?”_

“If I remember this tomorrow, you have a deal.”

**_If._ **

That was something Jigen didn’t want to hear. He knew Lupin long enough to know that when he got drunk like this, he hardly remembered anything.

“As for now, for as long as I can stay awake,” Lupin continued, blowing away Jigen’s cloudy thoughts. “I would like to keep kissing you until you can’t breathe.” 

Jigen blinked, a bit surprised that Lupin would even want to continue after hearing what he had to say. No matter how many years it had been, Lupin always found a way to surprise him. He removed his other hand from his eye, reaching up to gently take Lupin’s chin within his fingers. Jigen softly rubbed his thumb over the stubble that was growing there, then he reached up and gently ran his thumb over Lupin’s bottom lip.

“I’d like that.” He said softly. And not a moment later was Lupin kissing him on the lips again.

Minutes passed, maybe hours of the two partners locked in a makeshift embrace on the couch. Lupin drawing out small gasps of air and sounds from Jigen’s throat that he didn’t know he could make. Jigen also tugged at Lupin’s collar or ran his hands over the man’s back to make him hum that lovely sound into his lips. Eventually, the two of them found themselves fading, and Lupin came to rest his head on Jigen’s chest. The gunman lifted a hand, pressing it to the back of Lupin’s head. There, he ran his hands through his partner’s hair until the two of them drifted into sleep.

He didn’t wake up until Lupin suddenly rolled off both him and the couch an landed with a rough THUD on the floor.

“ _Aaaagghhhhhh_.” Lupin dragged out the sound, sounding both groggy and pained.

“You okay?” Jigen asked, though he winced his own pounding headache. 

“My head.” His friend answered with a groan, pushing himself onto his knees. “Jigen, you gotta make hangover stuff.”

“Hangover stuff.”

“I need breakfast food.” Lupin explained.

“Ah.” Jigen nodded, shifting himself onto his elbows and then slowly into a sitting position. Lupin didn’t seem to acknowledge anything from last night. Jigen wondered briefly it if were just a very wonderful, very convincing dream. It wouldn’t be the first time he dreamt of kissing Lupin.

“I fell on your hat, sorry.” Lupin’s mumbled words showed him that no, it hadn’t been a dream. The thief handed Jigen back his hat, a bit squashed from his fumble. Both their ties were removed, and their shirts throughly wrinkled. Maybe Lupin had actually forgotten. Though, perhaps it was for the best. It was just a few heated, drunken kisses. It's not like Jigen had confessed to being in love with Lupin or anything like that. 

Jigen stood carefully, then leaned down to help Lupin to his feet.

“Any breakfast requests?” He asked.

“God, an omelet sounds heavenly right now. Bacon. Maybe a few pancakes too?” Lupin answered, pressing the heel of his hand to his eyelid.

“Hey, you got it. Anything for you.” Jigen smiled, wrapping his hands around Lupin’s shoulder. 

The two of them walked out of the bedroom door and made their way towards the stairs to the kitchen. Jigen, once again, wondered if the events of the previous night had simply been a dream. 

But he still felt the sensation of Lupin the Third kiss on his lips, grabbing his hair, and pressing against his body. 

There was no way you could dream that up.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm currently rewatching part 4 and came to the episode where they bought a FREAKING MANSION!?!? That I somehow forgot about on my first watch through. And I cannot believe I haven't found any fics that have it within them. 
> 
> In these trying times, you just gotta write self indulgent fluff, ya know???? I've been reading a lot of kissing fics lately and wanted to try my hand at it. This is my first one so if it shows -- yeah? I'm pretty happy with how this came out though!
> 
> Keep yourselves healthy! Wash your hands! & Go leave a comment or leave kudos on another wonderful fic you enjoyed! Spread the love!


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